Shutterstock / Saksri Kongkla
Last month, a man from Tuscola, Texas nailed a 5,280-yard shot (3-miles) with .408 Cheyenne Tactical rifle, beating the previous distance shooting world record of 5,000-yards which was set on Sept. 30, 2017 by a retired Navy SEAL (and took 38 attempts). It took an astounding 14-seconds for the bullet to reach the 53-inch-wide target 3 miles away.
You’d think that he’d automatically be in the record books but the Guinness Book of World Records doesn’t keep track of/recognize distance shots when optics are used, and Bill Poor from Tuscola, Texas used a scope during his shot.
It took Bill Poor under 10 shots to hit the target that was a full 3-miles away, and in doing so he laid claim to the furthest shot ever hit in the sport of distance shooting, regardless of whether or not Guinness recognizes shots with optics.
To back up his claim, Poor has video documentation and witnesses who were with him on Roy Rowlin’s ranchland near Midland.
“I shot a 390-grain bullet at 3,160 feet-per-second,” he said. He used a .408 CheyTac modified by Vestal’s Custom Rifles from Bristol, Virginia. The target was 53 inches wide, though at three miles appeared considerably smaller.
Two things work against the bullet when taking a shot at this distance – friction and gravity. By necessity, the barrel of the rifle isn’t pointed exactly at the target, but a few degrees higher, depending on factors such as air temperature, humidity and wind. (via)
According to Wideopen Spaces, this record might not stand for too long because distance shooter Charles Melton has announced that he’ll soon be attempting a shot from 6,000-yards (3.4 miles).